Drax Project

Drax Project is a New Zealand band that formed in 2014. Recording a mix of jazz, R&B and pop music, the band came to prominence in 2017 with the single "Woke Up Late", which was certified triple platinum by RIANZ while the 2019 version featuring Hailee Steinfeld was certified triple platinum in Australia.

Drax Project
Drax Project at the B96 Pepsi SummerBash 2019
Background information
OriginWellington, New Zealand
Genres
Years active2013–present
LabelsUniversal
300 Entertainment[1]
Associated acts
Websitehttp://www.draxproject.com
MembersSam Thomson
Shaan Singh
Matt Beachen
Ben O'Leary

Background

Drax Project began as buskers in Wellington in 2013, composed of Shaan Singh on saxophone and Matt Beachen on drums (the origin of the band's name is a portmanteau of 'drums' and 'sax').[2][3] Drax Project mostly performed pop song covers while busking at Courtenay Place, Wellington and performing at local bars and events.[4][5] Double bassist Sam Thomson joined shortly after, and guitarist Ben O'Leary joined the band a year after, when the band made the switch to creating original material.[2][5] All members were jazz students at the New Zealand School of Music, except for O'Leary who studied music at Whitireia New Zealand.[4][5]

In August 2014, the band released their first extended play to Bandcamp.[6] A friend of O'Leary's produced the extended play as a part of his final year assignment for music school.[4] The exposure from the extended play allowed Drax Project to be booked for summer festivals in 2014-2015.[4] In 2016, the group released their second extended play, T/W/OO, through Universal.[3] It was produced by founding Shapeshifter member Devin Abrams.[4] The extended play's first single "Cold" was successful on Spotify, reaching #1 on their viral chart and being streamed over 160,000 times in three months.[3] In 2017, Drax Project opened for Lorde's Auckland concert of her Melodrama World Tour in November 2017,[7] as well as New Zealand band Six60.[8]

In November 2017, the band released the song "Woke Up Late". It gained popularity over the next few months on Spotify and was widely played on New Zealand radio stations.[9] In March, Drax Project opened for Ed Sheeran's three Auckland performances of his ÷ Tour in March 2018 (currently the largest-scale concert held in New Zealand as of 2018).[10][11] By April, "Woke Up Late" had been certified Platinum by the RIANZ.[9] In March, the band were featured on "Light", the third single from U.S. rapper Famous Dex's 2018 album Dex Meets Dexter.[12] In June 2018, the group opened for the European leg of Camila Cabello's Never Be the Same Tour.[13]

In January 2019, a new version of "Woke Up Late" was released, featuring American singer Hailee Steinfeld.[14] In June 2019, they released the single "All This Time".[15] The group opened for Christina Aguilera during her 2019 European concert tour. In September 2019, the group released the single "Catching Feelings" with Six60.[16] Their debut, self-titled studio album was released on 27 September 2019.[17] They released the single "Firefly" featuring Fetty Wap and AACACIA in October 2020.[18]

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
NZ
[19]
Drax Project
  • Released: 27 September 2019
  • Label: Drax Project, Universal
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
 2

Extended plays
Title Album details Peak chart positions Certifications
NZ
[19]
Drax Project EP
  • Released: 3 August 2014 (2014-08-03)[6]
  • Label: Drax Project Limited
  • Format: Digital download
 —
T/W/OO
  • Released: 1 April 2016 (2016-04-01)
  • Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal
  • Format: Digital download
 18
Covers (Live)
  • Released: 26 May 2017 (2017-05-26)
  • Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal
  • Format: Digital download
 40
Noon
  • Released: 8 June 2018 (2018-06-08)
  • Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal
  • Format: Digital download
 10
Noon (Acoustic)
  • Released: 26 April 2019 (2019-04-26)
  • Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal
  • Format: Digital download
 —
"—" denotes an extended play that did not chart.

As lead artist
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
NZ
[19]		 NZ
Artist
[22]		 AUS
[23]		 US Pop
[24]
"Cold"[3] 2016 —15—— T/W/OO
"Came to Me"[25] ————
"Falling Out of Sight"[26] —14—— Non-album singles
"So Lost"[27] ——[upper-alpha 1]——
"Woke Up Late" 2017 151——
  • RMNZ: 4× Platinum[29]
 Noon
"Toto"[30] 2018 —3——
"Woke Up Late"
(featuring Hailee Steinfeld)		 2019 3511829 Drax Project
"All This Time"[33] 211——
"Catching Feelings"[35]
(featuring Six60)		 3143—
  • RMNZ: 3× Platinum[36]
  • ARIA: Platinum[37]
"Relax"[38] 2020 —[upper-alpha 2]14——
"Firefly"[18]
(Drax Project & Fetty Wap featuring Aacacia)		 28
[40]		10—— Non-album singles
"Tukituki Te Manawa" —[upper-alpha 3]———
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
NZ
Arist
Heat.
[42]
"Light"[43]
(Famous Dex featuring Drax Project)		 2018 2 Dex Meets Dexter

Other charted songs
Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
NZ
Hot
[44]		 NZ
Artist
[22]
"Cry Me a River / Higher Ground (Live)" 2017 —18 Covers (Live)
"Pony (Live)" —19
"Latch (Live)" ——[upper-alpha 4]
"Only Us" 2018 3810 Noon
"Prefer" 88
"Sidebit" ——[upper-alpha 5]
"I Moeroa / Woke Up Late"[47] 2019 96 Waiata / Anthems
"Smart Love" 36 Drax Project
"Natural Selection" 10—[upper-alpha 6]
"Brain" 5—[upper-alpha 7]
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Tours
Supporting
Notes

Notes

  • The band opened for Lorde's Auckland, New Zealand show on 12 November.[49]
  • The band opened for Ed Sheeran's Auckland, New Zealand shows on 24-26 March.[50]
  • The band was the opening act for the European leg of the Never Be the Same Tour.[51]
  • The band opened for Christina Aguilera on select dates on Europe.[52]

Notes
  1. "So Lost" did not enter the NZ Artist Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 1 on the NZ Artists Heatseeker Singles Chart.[28]
  2. "Relax" did not enter the Official New Zealand Music Chart, but peaked at number 7 on the Hot 40 Singles chart.[39]
  3. "Tukituki Te Manawa" did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 10 on the NZ Hot Singles Chart.[41]
  4. "Latch (Live)", a cover of the Disclosure song of the same name featuring Sam Smith, did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 5 on the NZ Artists Heatseeker Singles Chart.[28]
  5. "Sidebit" did not enter the NZ Artists Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 1 on the NZ Artists Singles Heatseekers Chart.[46]
  6. "Natural Selection" did not enter the NZ Artist Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 4 on the NZ Artists Hot 20 Singles Chart.[48]
  7. "Brain" did not enter the NZ Artist Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 2 on the NZ Artists Hot 20 Singles Chart.[48]

References
  1. "300 Entertainment". 300 Entertainment. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  2. Connor, Fiona (13 December 2016). "Nine Things You Probably Didn't Know About Drax Project". Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  3. "Drax Project - Seemed Like Trouble". NZME. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  4. Gruar, Tim (25 February 2018). "Drax Project – The 13th Floor Interview". The 13th Floor. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  5. "Interview: Drax Project". Massive Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  6. "Drax Project EP by Drax Project". Bandcamp. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  7. McDonald, Dani (18 February 2018). "From busking to opening for Lorde: The rise of Drax Project". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax New Zealand. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  8. Macfarlane, Kristin (5 December 2017). "Big changes to Six60's summer tour". NZ Herald. NZME. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  9. "Drax Project locks in Auckland show". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax New Zealand. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  10. Macfarlane, Kristin (18 February 2018). "Drax Project's Bay musician opens for Ed Sheeran". NZ Herald. NZME. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  11. "Ed Sheeran has announced yet another New Zealand show". NZ Herald. NZME. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  12. Findlay, Mitch (30 March 2018). "Famous Dex Taps New Zealand's Drax Project For Pop-Friendly "Light"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  13. Gehring, Matt. "Famous Dex And Drax Project Premiere Their "Lights" Music Video On 'TRL'". MTV News. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  14. Cantor, Brian (11 January 2019). "Drax Project & Hailee Steinfeld's "Woke Up Late" Headed To Pop Radio". Headline Planet. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  15. "Drax Project talk their new song "All This Time" | Wonderland Magazine". Wonderland. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
  16. "Drax Project Release New Single Featuring Six60 + Announce Album! | Artist News | NZ Music Commission". www.nzmusic.org.nz. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  17. Burgham, Lydia (26 September 2019). "The story of Drax Project, from Woke Up Late to conquering New Zealand's live music scene". NZ Herald. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  18. Heidt, Dustin. "Drax Project link up with Fetty Wap for rousing single 'Firefly'". Variance Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  19. For most entries: "Discography DRAX PROJECT". Recorded Music NZ. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2019.. For "Catching Feelings": "Discography DRAX PROJECT FEAT. SIX60". Recorded Music NZ. Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
  20. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  21. "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  22. Peak positions for Drax Project's singles on the NZ Artist singles chart:
    • For "Cold", "Falling Out of Sight", "Woke Up Late", "Cry Me a River / Higher Ground (Live)", "Pony (Live)": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
    • For "Only Us": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
    • For "Toto": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 19 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
    • For "Prefer": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 3 May 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
    • For "All This Time": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
    • For "Catching Feelings", "I Moeroa / Woke Up Late": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
    • For "Smart Love": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
    • For "Relax": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
    • For "Firefly": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  23. Peaks in Australia:
  24. "Drax, TFM". Billboard. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  25. "Came to Me - Single". Apple. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  26. "Falling Out of Sight - Single". Apple. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  27. "So Lost - Single". Apple. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  28. "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  29. "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  30. "Drax Project write about their risks in new single 'Toto'". MediaWorks Radio. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  31. "Official Top 20 NZ Singles". Recorded Music NZ. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  32. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2019 Singles". ARIA. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  33. Savage, Mark (14 June 2019). "How Drax Project turned one lost wallet into 57m streams". BBC. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  34. "OFFICIAL TOP 20 NZ SINGLES". Recorded Music NZ. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  35. "Drax Project Drops Single 'Catching Feelings' featuring fellow New Zealanders". BroadwayWorld. 4 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  36. "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 4 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  37. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2020 Singles". ARIA. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  38. "Drax Project release music video for their new single 'Relax'". MoreFM. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  39. "HOT 40 SINGLES". Recorded Music NZ. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  40. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  41. "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  42. Peak positions for Unknown Mortal Orchestra's singles on the NZ Artist Heatseekers singles chart:
  43. "Famous Dex – Light (feat. Drax Project)". OnSmash. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  44. Peak positions for Drax Project's singles on the NZ Hot 40 singles chart:
  45. "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  46. "NZ Artists Heatseekers Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  47. "Waiata / Anthems". iTunes. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  48. "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 5 October 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  49. Spring, Lauren (2 November 2017). "Your need-to-know playlist of Lorde's NZ support acts". The Spinoff. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  50. Macfarlane, Kristin (18 February 2018). "Drax Project's Bay musician opens for Ed Sheeran". NZ Herland. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  51. "Drax Project to Support Camila Cabello on European Tour | Artist News | NZ Music Commission". nzmusic.org.nz. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  52. "On the Road with Drax Project on Christina Aguilera's European Tour - L'Officiel". www.lofficielusa.com. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
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